irtec Return on Investment

The Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI), working in partnership with SOE, has undertaken a Return on Investment (ROI) study to measure the benefits of irtec and the wider implications of employers’ investment in skills.

Following a successful submission to the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) the IMI set out to demonstrate best practice in business aligned training to encourage employers to invest in the areas where particular need for skills have been identified.

Paul Spear, who heads the ROI Programme for the IMI said “The aim of the IMI ROI project is to compile a portfolio of case studies of automotive companies that are generating tangible benefits from their investment in technical training and staff development. By proving the value of training we will deliver a powerful message across the sector that even modest investment in skills, aligned to the needs of the business, can generate positive benefits to employers and employees.”

The Challenge

The IMI’s submission to the UKCES set out two key challenges the heavy vehicle sector faces. It stated that:

1. Up-skilling of technicians in the HV maintenance and repair sector is particularly important. [Of all subsectors] The HGV subsector is least likely to agree that investment in training will help businesses to survive at 53% and most likely to not know if it had an impact at 28%. Only 19% felt training investment had impact on productivity.

2. There is a lack of understanding of the link between training and business impact, which is emphasised by the 28% of HV businesses that still reported a skills gap in their work force.

The process

Three organisations, Morrisons, DSV Commercials and DAF have taken part in the irtec element of the ROI project:

These organisations were either in the process of building their cohort of irtec accredited inspection technicians when we started working with them or have adapted their approach in gaining irtec accreditation to meet the requirements of the ROI project.

In assessing and measuring the impact of the irtec inspection licence to the employer and individual technician, the IMI aimed to measure the financial benefit of investing in Irtec. The study also sought to measure the wider benefits of competitive advantage and reputation to both the dealer and its customer base through attributable increases eg increased MOT first time pass rates, workshop utilisation, productivities and vehicle up time and technician confidence, competence and professional recognition.

While the figures speak for themselves, the impact of irtec goes far beyond. Les Smith of DSV Commercials Ltd said irtec provided them with “Less return of faulty workmanship, more available hours to sell, technicians getting it right first time”
Willie Hensman, Service Manager, Imperial Commercials Bellshill (DAF) explained that “irtec played a fundamental part in bringing Greggs to Imperial, it opened the door for negotiations based on a huge step change for their business”
And Mike Fowler, CEMEX, a customer of Watts Truck and Van (DAF) described that “CEMEX as a large organisation felt safer in the knowledge that our service and maintenance provider has irtec licenced technicians throughout the DAF network. This gives CEMEX peace of mind in the produce we utilise every day in our business”.